You're most welcome LiveWire9. I hope that you don't mind our following some tangents here as, in the process of attempting to answer your question, we have discovered some interesting questions of our own.
nonplussed said:
Placing the stirrups at an inclined angle simply makes the concrete strut intersect more stirrups.
Yes, this is exactly it! Thanks for setting me straight.
@Hokie:
Using nonplussed's guidance, I've attempted my own derivation of the ACI inclined stirrups equation (below and attached). No doubt I could have just found it in a textbook if I had the right one. Anyhow, here are the conclusions that I've drawn from the derivation:
1) The sin term may be thought of as representing the stirrups that would have been available even if there were no incline. The capacity of those stirrups is multiplied by the sine of the incline angle to reduce their effectiveness.
2) The cos term may be thought of as representing the extra stirrups that cross the shear crack as a result of the incline. The capacity of these stirrups, too, are multiplied by the sine of the incline angle to reduce their effectiveness. This multiplication cancels out in the mathematics of determining the extra tie area available however.
3) The ACI equation for inclined stirrups shows an increase in capacity relative to perpendicular stirrups only because more stirrups become involved, not because individual stirrups are more effective when oriented more perpendicular to the anticipated angle of the shear crack.
4) The derivation of the ACI inclined stirrup equation suggests that the optimal orientation for stirrups is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the member. All other orientations, including perpendicular to the shear crack, are inferior and and that inefficiency is quantified by multiplying capacity by the sine of the angle that the stirrups make with the direction of the applied shear.
I like to debate structural engineering theory -- a lot. If I challenge you on something, know that I'm doing so because I respect your opinion enough to either change it or adopt it.